SEATTLE

SEATTLE, city and port in the state of Washington; located in the far N.W. of the United States; Jewish population estimated at 37,000 in the early 21st century. Euro-Americans settled Seattle in 1851. Attracted to Seattle's growing economic success, a temperate climate and abundance of natural resources such as lumber and coal, Jews began arriving in 1868. In 1897, when gold was discovered in Alaska's Klondike region and Seattle became an embarkation point for those going to the gold fields, many more followed to take advantage of the many business opportunities. By the early 1900s, Seattle, the state's largest and most dynamic city, had an active Jewish community made up of people from Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean Basin (Turkey, Marmara, and the island of Rhodes). B'nai B'rith, established in 1883 was the city's first Jewish organization. As the number of eastern European Jews increased, men formed new lodges, sorting out members by connection with synagogues. A women's auxiliary, Emma Lazarus, chartered in 1916, brought women into the organization. Other voluntary groups that provided money and a proper burial service for the poor quickly followed. On a more social level, Jewish men in 1910 founded the Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA). During World War I, the YMHA provided soldiers on leave from Camp Lewis, an army camp near Tacoma, Washington, with a bed and a place to meet other Jews. Seattle's large Sephardi population formed the Young Men's Sephardic Association (YMSA). The restriction barring Jews from fraternities and sororities at the University of Washington inspired Jewish students to organize a local Menorah Society in 1913. To help the growing Jewish community and increasingly large immigrant population, Jewish women established several organizations. The earliest, the Seattle Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society, began in 1892. Over the years it has evolved to become the Jewish Family Service (JFS), the largest Jewish social service organization in the state. The Seattle Section, National Council of Jewish Women, joined the ranks of Seattle Jewish organizations in 1900 and within a few years established a Settlement House for poor immigrants. The NCJW was followed, in 1913, by the Hebrew Ladies Free Loan, which made interest-free loans. The Caroline Kline Galland Home for Aged opened its doors in 1916 and is now a nationally recognized skilled nursing facility. There are also two retirement homes, Council House and the Summit at First Hill. Swamped by the increasing arrival of Russian refugees, Washington Jewry in 1915 set up a branch of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and established a shelter house for those who had no sponsors. In the early 1920s, new groups such as Hadassah, the Jewish Consumptives Relief Society, Mizrachi, the Seattle Sephardic Brotherhood, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, joined the roster of philanthropic and social groups. The Federation is now the coordinating umbrella organization for local non-congregational Jewish groups. Most of the groups are still active and have been joined by a myriad of others, such as the American Jewish Committee, the Stroum Jewish Community Center of Greater Seattle, and the Holocaust Survivors Assistance Office. To keep track of the social, organizational, and congregational events and to "enable the Jews of Seattle and the Northwest to become better acquainted with each other," Sol Krems, an active member of the Seattle Jewish community, published The Jewish Voice in 1915. After its demise, Herman Horowitz began The Jewish Transcript (JT News) in 1924. The newspaper focused on news, people, politics, religion, and education both locally as well as nationally and internationally. In 1889 Seattle Jews planned their first congregation, Ohaveth Sholum, a quasi-Reform temple, and purchased land for a Jewish cemetery. It survived until 1896. Seattle's Orthodox Bikur Cholim Synagogue, the oldest surviving congregation in the state, began as a benefit and benevolent society in 1889, but within a decade became a religious congregation. Reform-minded Jewish people organized Temple De Hirsch in 1899. In 1906, Herzl, an Orthodox synagogue attracted members interested in promoting Zionism. It would become Conservative in 1932. Seattle's Sephardi community, which by 1913 had the largest number outside of New York, launched their own religious institutions, Sephardic Bikur Holim, Ahavath Ahim, and Ezra Bessaroth congregations. Because the Sephardi immigrants spoke Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) not Yiddish, were poor, and unskilled, and ate strange foods, the Ashkenazim at first questioned their Jewishness. Later, Ashkenazi Jews and the larger community grew to know and appreciate their customs and culture and realized that Seattle is fortunate in having such a large Sephardi community. This turn of events began in the 1940s with Rabbi Solomon Maimon, who grew up in Seattle and became the first Sephardi Jew in America to receive ordination. Today Sephardi Studies is a special area in the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Washington. The famed Benaroya Symphony Hall is named to honor the substantial gift of Jack and Rebecca Benaroya, a testament to the Sephardim's success. Although the 2001 demographic study of Jewish Seattle shows that their numbers have declined in proportion to the total number of Jews because new migrants are generally not Sephardi, this vibrant community's culture and resources remain important. Except for Ohaveth Sholum and Ahavath Ahim, all the early religious institutions are still active. With growth in the Jewish population after World War II, new groups joined the list. In 2005, there were 18 active congregations in the greater Seattle area. Besides the traditional Conservative, Orthodox, and Reform, they embrace a meditation synagogue, a gay and lesbian congregation, a Jewish Renewal movement, and a Lubavitch center. Before 1913, Seattle youth learned Hebrew in the area's congregational Hebrew schools. After 1913, the community began its support of a Hebrew School. Though Hebrew education floundered over the years, a talmud torah eventually opened and had its own school building. In 1945, Rabbi Solomon   Wohlgelernter of Bikur Cholim and Rabbi Solomon Maimon, of Sephardic Bikur Holim launched a Jewish day school (now the Seattle Hebrew Academy). Since that time, Jewish youth have the opportunity to study in several day schools, ranging from preschool to high school. In addition the area congregations have active mid-day and Sunday school programs. Though Seattle never had an exclusively Jewish neighborhood, in 1910 some 85 percent of Seattle's Jews, both Ashkenazi and Sephardi, lived in Seattle's central area. In the early 21st century, 64% of Seattle's 37,000 Jews lived in the city and its nearby northern suburbs, 26% east of Lake Washington in the towns of Bellevue, Mercer Island, and Redmond, and the rest live in the outlying suburbs such as Kent and Renton. In the 2001 survey, 4 out of 10 Jewish respondents had moved to Seattle within the past 10 years. More than half the Seattle Jews are fourth generation. About one-in-five Jewish households belongs to a religious congregation and these are growing more ethnically diverse because of conversions, adoptions, and intermarriage. Whether they moved to Seattle from the eastern United States or came from Europe, before World War II most Jewish families earned their living as merchants. With more and more Jews entering college, this changed as Jews entered the professions. Many men and women in Seattle joined the faculty of the University of Washington, opened a medical or legal office, became Boeing engineers, or developed software programs for Microsoft. When they worked in business, it was usually with a large firm and not a small neighborhood store. A few, such as howard shultz , who launched Starbuck's, and Jeff Brotman, creator of Costco, established businesses with national reputations. The increasing number of Jewish faculty at the University of Washington led to the establishment of a Jewish Studies Program in 1974. Now a part of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, it is the premier institution in the academic study of Jewish history and culture. An annual lecture series established by Samuel and Althea Strom brings in persons with international reputations to the area. It has also led to fine publications. This and many other programs are open to the public and have contributed to an increased awareness of the richness of Jewish life in the United States and throughout the world. The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st have witnessed a flowering of Seattle's Jewish community. Jewish citizens are leaders in local secular charities and business enterprises. Examples are the Herb Bridge family, which includes a State Supreme Court justice, a physician, an attorney, business leader, and rabbi; and Althea and Samuel Strum, who have funded Jewish Studies programs at the University of Washington and contributed to every Jewish organization in the state. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Cone, H. Droker, J. Williams, Family of Strangers: Building a Jewish Community in Washington State (2003). (Jacqueline Williams (2nd ed.)